Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/63

Rh RUDE STONE MONUMENTS 51 the monument is called a Dolmen (daul, a table, and maen a stone). This megalithic chamber is sometimes partial!, or wholly imbedded in a mound of earth or stones so as to form a tumulus or cairn. As, however, there are many tumuli and cairns which do not contain megalithic cham bers, we have only partially to deal with them under th< category of rude stone monuments. Menhirs. Rude monoliths fixed on end (see vol. ii. p. 383 fig. 1) have been used in all ages for a variety of purposes, commem orative and religious. Stone pillars were also used ceremonially on the accession of kings and chiefs. In Scotland, when stone were thus used, they were called Tanist Stones, the most celebratet of which was the Lia Fail, formerly at Scone (now at Westminster Abbey), on which the kings of Scotland used to be crowned. Wi read also of Hare or Hoer Stones, Cambus or Camus Stones, Ca (cath, battle) Stones, " Witch Stanes, " "Druid Stanes," &<:. The Hawk's Stane, or Saxum Falconis, at Sfc Madoes, Perthshire, was erected in memory of the defeat of the Danes at Luncarty, and a monolith now standing on the field of Flodden is said to mark the place where King James fell. When menhirs were grouped together their number was often significant, e.g., twelve (Josh. iv. 5) or seven (Herod., iii. 8). Some standing stones are found to have been artificially perforated, and these superstition has invested with some curious functions. As examples of this class may be mentioned the famous Stone of Odin, near the circle of Stennis, the Clach-Charra, or Stone of Vengeance, at Onich near Balachu- lish in Argyllshire, and Men-en-tol in Cornwall. Two rude mono- liths in Scotland bear inscriptions, the famous Newton Stone in the district of Garioch, and the Cat Stane near Edinburgh. Many others have cup-marks and spirals or concentric circles. In Ireland, Wales, and the north of Scotland, they are occasionally found with ogam inscriptions, and in the north-east of Scotland (Pictland) with symbolical figures, which were subsequently continued on the beautifully sculptured stones of early Christian date which are peculiar to that locality. Menhirs are found in all megalithic countries. In the British Isles they are very abundant, more especially in the less cultivated districts. In France over 1600 isolated examples have been recorded, of which about the half, and by far the most remarkable, are within the five departments which constitute Brittany. In the rest of France they are generally small, and not to be compared in grandeur to those of Brittany. At Locmariaquer (Morbihan) is the largest menhir in the world. It is in the form of a rude but smooth -sided obelisk, and lies on the ground broken into four portions, the aggregate length of which amounts to 20 '50 metres (about 67 feet). It was made of granite, foreign to the neighbour- hood, and its weight, according to the most recent calculations, amounted to 347,531 kilogrammes or 342 tons (L'ffomme, 1885, p. 193). The next largest menhir is at Plesidy (Cotes-du-Nord), measuring about 37 feet in height. Then follows a list of sixty- seven gradually diminishing to 16 feet in height, of which the first ten (all above 26 feet) are in Brittany. As regards form, these menhirs vary greatly. Some are cylindrical, as the well-known "pierre du champ Dolent " at Dol (height 30 feet), and that of Cadiou in Finistere (28 feet) ; while that of Penmarch (26 feet) takes the shape of a partially expanded fan. On the introduction of Christianity into France its adherents appear to have made use of these menhirs at an early period ; many of them at present support a cross, and some a Madonna. The scattered positions of some monoliths and the no less singular grouping of others show that, although they were sometimes used as landmarks, this was only a secondary function. It is not uncommon to find a monolith overtopping a tumulus, thus simulating the Bauta (grave or battle) Stones of Scandinavia. In England, monoliths are often associated with the stone circles, as the King's Stone at Stanton Drew, Long Meg at Little Salkeld, the Ring Stone at Avebury, &c. One of the finest British monoliths stands in the churchyard of Rudston, Yorkshire. Examples of a large size are met with in Algeria, Morocco, India, Central Asia, &c. Alignments. The most celebrated monuments of this class are in the^vicinity of Carnac in Brittany. They are situated in groups at Menec, Kermario, Kerlescant, Erdeven, and St Barbe all within a few miles of each other, and in the centre of a district containing the most remarkable megalithic remains in the world. The first three groups are supposed by some archaeologists to be merely portions of one original and continuous series of alignments, which extended nearly 2 miles in length in a uniform direction from south-west to north-east. Commencing at the village of Mt.'nec, the menhirs are arranged in eleven rows. At first they stand from 10 to 13 feet above the ground, but, as we advance, they become gradually smaller till they attain only 3 or 4 feet, when they cease altogether. After a vacant space of about 350 yards we come to the Kermario group, which contains only ten lines, but they are nearly of the same magnitude as at the begin- ning of the former group. After a still greater interval the menhirs again appear, but this time in thirteen rows, at the village of Kerlescaut. In 1881 M. Felix Gaillard, Plouharnel, made a plan of the alignments at Erdeven, which shows that, out of a total of 1120 menhirs which originally constituted the group, 290 are still standing, 740 fallen, and 90 removed. The menhirs here may be traced for nearly a mile, but their linear arrangement is not so distinct, nor are the stones so large as those at Carnac. About fifty alignments are known in France. At Penmarch there is one containing over two hundred menhirs arranged in four rows. Others, however, are formed of only a single row of stones, as at Kerdouadec, Leure, and Camaret. The first is 480 m. in length, and terminates at its southern extremity in a kind of croix gammee. At Leure three short lines meet at right angles. The third is situated on the rising ground between the town of Camaret and the point of Toulinguet. It consists of a base line, some 600 yards long, with forty-one stones (others have apparently been removed), and two perpendicular lines as short offsets. Close to it are a dolmen and a prostrate menhir. These monoliths are all of coarse quartz and of small size, only one, at Leure, reaching a height of 9 feet. Alignments are also found in other countries. In the Pyrenees they are generally in single file, mostly straight, but sometimes reptiliform. One at Peyrelade (Billiere) runs in a straight line from north to south for nearly 300 yards, and contains ninety-three stones, some of which are of great size. At St Columb in Cornwall, there is one called the Nine Maidens, which is formed of eight quartz stones, extending in a perfectly straight line for 262 feet. In Britain they are more frequently arranged in double file, or in avenues, leading to or from other megalithic monuments, such as still exist, or formerly existed, at the circles of Avebury, Stouehenge, Shap, Callernish, &c. The only example in England comparable to the great alignments of Carnac is in the Vale of the White Horse in Berkshire. Here the stones, numbering about eight hundred, are grouped in three divisions, and extend over an irregular parallelogram which measures from 500 to 600 yards in length and from 250 to 300 yards in breadth. Sir Henry Drydeu describes groups of a similar character in Caithness, as at Garry- Whin, Canister, Yarhouse, and the "many stones" at Clyth. Alignments in single and multiple rows have also been observed in Shetland, India, Algeria, &c. Cromlechs. Enclosures (enceintes) formed of rude monoliths, placed at intervals of a few yards, have generally a circular or oval shape. Rectangular forms are, however, not unknown, examples of which may be seen at Curcunno (Morbihan), near the celebrated dolmen 'of that name, and at Saint Just (Ille-et- Vilaine). The former measures 37 by 27 yards, and is now com- posed of twenty-two menhirs, all of which are standing (some fallen ones having been recently restored by the Government). About a dozen menhirs would appear to be wanting. A doukey- shoe-shaped enclosure has been described by Sir Henry Dryden, in the parish of Latheron, Caithness. It is 226 feet long and 110 feet wide in the middle, and the two extremities are 85 feet apart. Stone circles are frequently arranged concentrically, as may be seen in the circle at Kenmore, near Aberfeldy, Perthshire, as well as in many other Scotch, Irish, and Scandinavian examples. More rarely one large circle surrounds secondary groups, without having a common centre, as was the case at Avebury, where the outer circle, 1200 feet in diameter, included two others, each of which contained an inner concentric circle. At Boscawen, in Cornwall, there is a group of circles confusedly attached, and, as it were, partially overlapping each other. Circles may also be connected by an alignment or avenue, as at Stanton Drew, Dart- moor, &c. Cromlechs are often associated with other megalithic monuments ; thus at the head of the great Carnac alignments are the remains of a large circle which can be readily traced, notwith- standing that some houses are constructed within its area. In the British Isles and the north of Europe cromlechs frequently surround the dolmens, tumuli, or cairns. A few examples of a dolmen surrounded by one or more concentric circles have also been recorded by M. Cartailhac, in the department of Aveyron in France. Outside the cromlech there is also frequently to be
 * ound a circular ditch or vallum, as at Avebury, Stonehenge,

Arbor Low, Brogar, &c. The most remarkable megalithic monu- ment of this class now extant is Stonehenge, which differs, how- ever, from its congeners in having the stones of its second inner circle partially hewn and attached by large transverse lintels. The largest cromlech in France stands on the Ile-aux-Moines Morbihan), in the village of Kergonan. About half of it is destroyed by the encroachment of the houses. The remaining semi-circumference (slightly elliptical) contains thirty-six menhirs 'rom 6 to 10 feet high, and its diameter is about 100 metres (328 eet). Only a few of the British cromlechs exceed these dimen- iions, among which may be mentioned Avebury (1260 by 1170 eet), Stonehenge (outer circle 300 feet, inner 106 feet), Stanton )rew (360 feet), Brogar (345 feet), Long Meg and her Daughters 330 feet). One near Dumfries, called the Twelve Apostles, also losely approaches the 100-metre size ; but, generally speaking, he Scotch and Irish examples are of smaller proportions, rarely